Emergency Deflasking of P. lobbii - Orchid Board

OzPhal · #1 03-01-2012, 08:57 PM

Hi Everybody,

It's been a while since I last posted so g'day to everybody again!

I'm just needing some advice - I received a flask of P. lobbii last night that had been really beaten around by our postal system! Sadly, if I wanted to save any of them, I had to deflask! they could have really done with another 8 weeks in the flask!

In any case I washed them out, rinsed off the residual media and let them air dry on paper towel for a period of time. I purchased a heated propagating tray from Bunnings and also some Sphagnum Moss. After the seedlings had hardened off a little I put them in a compot with finely chopped sphag... some of the seedlings were so small I couldn't get any roots down in to the sphag so they're literally sitting on the surface with a few strands covering over what roots they have. The compot is now in the heated propagaring tray - I'm maintaining the temperature around 25oC (77oF) and I'm regularly misting the surface of the moss and the leaves to maintain humidity - there is plenty of condensation inside the enclosure (the downside of that is it's the perfect environment for fungus so I'll have to keep a close eye on that). Is there anything that anyone would do differently? I know some will say I should have dipped them in fungicide first but I'm worried with their being so small and tender that it could have done more harm than good... any thoughts?

I've also got a recently purchased seedling of P. tetraspis & P. violacea'Blue' keeping them company. I received them bare root so I've potted them in sphag at the moment until I can get some potting media together - the continous warmer temperatures will encourage vegetative growth correct?

OzPhal · #2 03-02-2012, 09:23 AM

Also, with that setup should I put a small fan inside the popagating tray to maintain some air movement? as it's heated it's warm and humid... at the moment I've got a small computer fan sitting inside the propagating tray moving air around with a small amount of fresh air flowing in through one of four small vents in the lid that I have very slightly open

Discus · #3 03-02-2012, 09:46 AM

Sounds good OzPhal - as long as you keep an eye on it for fungus, and spray at the first sign of trouble, it should all work out.

Wjs2nd · #4 03-02-2012, 09:47 AM

Yes, the fan will help keep mold and fungus away. My issue with def asking was keeping everything to humid and losing everything fast. When every I next def ask something, because I can keep the humidity up, I'm going to use seedling bark. Good luck!

orchidsarefun · #5 03-02-2012, 09:49 AM

can't you claim another flask from the vendor ?
I was under the impression that flasks are only sold/sent when they are ready to be deflasked..

iceicebaby · #6 03-02-2012, 10:12 AM

All sounds perfect, just keep an eye on the misting. what matters is the humidity in the air, so buy a hygrometer and put it. It is not necessary to get all the roots under moss.I believe 30% of the roots are adequate(after all they are epiphytes) and the roots grow out of pot and survive. keep the fans running 24X7 and gradually reduce the humidity level. I stagger by 10% every week. So in I start around 80% and get it to 40% to 60% and then shift the compots to my green house. All the best and I hope soon you see tiny roots growing.

keithrs · #7 03-02-2012, 12:40 PM

As a word of advice.... Don't mist the plants to often. You will rot your plants....Trust me! I would recommend going to Orchid Karma's blog and look at what she did. The key is RH. The plants that are to small for the roots to go into the moss will be fine if you have RH and heat.

Orchid Karma

OzPhal · #8 03-02-2012, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

can't you claim another flask from the vendor ?
I was under the impression that flasks are only sold/sent when they are ready to be deflasked..

Theoretically I probably could - but if the flask had have arrived in good condition then I could have just left it for a few weeks... It wasn't the growers fault that the postal system messed it up

---------- Post added at 09:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 AM ----------

Thanks everybody for your replies... I appreciate it. There's definitely heat and there's definitely humidity - I can tell by the condensation on the lid

but I do need to get a hygrometer so I can monitor it better. So if the RH in the air is ok it doesn't really matter if the leaf surfaces are actually dry-ish - so long as the roots are moist and that nice shiny green colour. I have read over Orchid Karmas site - she's got a lot of good info there. Is she on this forum?

OzPhal · #9 03-06-2012, 02:27 AM

Noticed a bit of fuzziness some blackened roots today - looks like fungus from too much moisture so I gave a spray of mancozeb and opened up the vents to get a bit more air flowing

OzPhal · #10 03-07-2012, 06:35 PM

slight bump

interested in peoples thoughts